Six Indians hurt as Taliban attack Kabul (Second Lead)

KABUL - Taliban bombers equipped with suicide vests and automatic rifles attacked a hotel and a guesthouse in central Kabul Friday, killing 11 people and injuring 20, including six Indians, officials said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said by phone from an undisclosed location that five Taliban bombers attacked two compounds used by foreigners. He said two of the bombers detonated their explosives while the three others continued to fight Afghan forces.

The explosions occurred at the City Centre shopping complex and the Safi Landmark hotel, about 300 metres from the interior ministry, said Abdul Ghafar Sayedzadar, a senior police official.

“Two police officers were martyred,” Sayedzadar said.

The attacks claimed other victims as well. General Ahmad Zia Yaftali, chief doctor for the Afghan army, said eight bodies were taken to army hospitals and three were brought to another hospital.

Two of the bodies were Afghans while authorities were trying to identify the rest, he said, adding that at least six Indian nationals were among those wounded.

Farid Rahid, a spokesman for the ministry of public health, said some foreign nationals might have been among those killed.

The private television channel Tolo TV said the attack targeted a guesthouse for Indians next to the shopping complex. Several people were killed, the report said.

A policeman at the scene said he saw four bodies being taken away from the guesthouse but could not say whether the victims were Indians or Afghans.

A DPA reporter at the scene said police surrounded the shopping complex and an exchange of heavy gunfire took place.

Another policeman said explosions caused by several hand grenades had damaged two guesthouses and a hotel. At least two suicide bombers were involved in the attack, said the policeman, who was at the scene and asked not to be named.

An interior ministry spokesman confirmed that several blasts had taken place. “The area is under control of the police, and police are searching for the attackers,” he said.

Pools of blood could be seen on the ground, the reporter said. The ground was also covered with broken glass from the explosions.

Few people were on the streets on the rainy morning, a public holiday.

The Safi Landmark hotel at the top floor of the shopping centre is popular with Westerners. The area under attack is in the central, most fortified part of Kabul.

On Jan 18, Taliban fighters attacked government facilities in the capital in a standoff that lasted several hours. At least 12 people, among them seven Taliban, were killed in that attack.